Figures from 2014 reveal that more than 2,000 students submitted complaints against universities in the UK, up 3% on last year and the highest number recorded in the report's 10-year history, writes Josie Gurney-Read for The Telegraph.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator, or OIA, reported that the highest number of complaints were made regarding academic grades and degree classifications awarded, while issues with the university and finances made up a smaller percentage of concerns. Higher education professionals have put the rise down to students "demanding more from their courses" in light of the increased fees. (...) - University World News, by The Telegraph, 27 June 2015 Issue No:373

Increase would be largest agency has seen since doubling ended 12 years ago.

At last, biomedical researchers may be getting some relief. A Senate panel today approved a bill that would bestow a generous $2 billion increase on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2016, or what appears to be a 6% raise, to $32 billion. Although a House of Representatives panel last week approved a lower figure, it seems the agency may be on track to its first significant increase in more than a decade. (...) - Science, by Jocelyn Kaiser, 23 June 2015

This is the story of a friend of a friend, a man by name Francis who took his life at age 34. Francis had been struggling with manic depression through most of his years as a postdoc in theoretical physics. (...) - BackRe(Action) Blog, June 16 2015

Universities and private centres in different European countries have introduced writing services for academics, in the past few decades. The trend is now catching on as the work of scientists becomes incredibly complex. More and more researchers are now happy to delegate the time-consuming task of communicating their results to professional writers and editors. Academic writing centers and learning development centres that include academic writing service have developed throughout Europe. The European academic writing centres have joined in the European Writing Centres Association that was founded in 1998 and the European Association For The Teaching Of Academic Writing.(...) Euroscientist, par Janna Degener, 11/06/2015

Sally Rockey, the longtime research administrator who steers the National Institute of Health’s (NIH’s) Office of Extramural Research, is stepping down after 5 years to head a new agricultural research foundation. Rockey expanded transparency about NIH policies at a time of unprecedented budget pressures on biomedical researchers. (...) - Science, by Jocelyn Kaiser, 11 June 2015

On 29 May the European institutions announced that they reached an agreement on the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in the last round of the so-called “trilogue” discussions. The new financial instrument, which aims to boost growth and jobs in the EU, will be backed by a guarantee partly financed from the EU budget. (...) - EUA, 5 June 2015

Collectif PAPERA's insight:

A €2,2 Billion Budget Cut in the next European Research Program Horizon 2020

With general elections coming up on 18 June, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the opposition centre right Liberal Party, or Venstre, placed changes to controversial higher education reforms on the general election agenda, calling the government’s approach “too inflexible”. (...) - University World News, by Jan Petter Myklebust, 05 June 2015 Issue No:370

In the last two decades, African countries have made considerable progress in the face of global economic downturn. But future growth will depend on development of quality tertiary education, which also holds the continent’s hope for reducing population explosion, according to the African Economic Outlook 2015 published last week. (...) - University World News, by Wachira Kigotho, 29 May 2015 Issue No:369

A new international-style grade point average, or GPA, scheme should be introduced to give graduates and employers a more detailed and accurate picture of how individuals performed throughout their studies, according to a new report published on 28 May.

But it should be tested for a trial period of five years alongside traditional degree classifications of first class, upper second (2:1), lower second ( 2:2) and third class, rather than simply replace it, says the report published by the Higher Education Academy on behalf of the GPA Advisory Group. (...) - University World News, by Brendan O’Malley, 29 May 2015 Issue No:369

Universities will face pressure to streamline and refocus their mission on developing skills for the global jobs market under sweeping reforms announced last week. The education ministry wants to raise the standing of science and technology and said that humanities departments could be axed. (...) - University World News, by Suvendrini Kakuchi, 26 June 2015 Issue No:373

Up to the end of February 2015, after 14 months, Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-20, had received 45,000 applications. This represents a large surge in the number of applications.

The success rate for applications was 14% to 15% on average, while in Framework Programme 7 (2007-13), the predecessor of Horizon 2020, the success rate was between 19% and 22%. In some of the sub-programmes of Horizon 2020, notably in the Health Sciences and in Future and Emerging Technologies, or ‘FET Open’, the success rate for applications was down to between 2% and 3%. (...) - University World News, by Jan Petter Myklebust, 19 June 2015 Issue No:372

A warning that student fees could rise again was delivered by former Universities Minister David Willetts as he insisted the ceiling of £9,000 a year could not be held indefinitely. (...) - The Independent, by Richard Garner, 17 June 2015

We often read and hear about how much new Ph.D.s long to step into tenure-track faculty positions. I am honored to be in this role, but I find that many days I question if this is the best place for me. At the end of my first year, I am wondering: How do you know when it's time to cut your losses and seek positions outside of the academy? (...) - InsideHigherEd, by Kerry Ann Rockquemore, June 17, 2015

Russian scientists and intellectuals mounted a rare public protest on 6 June to voice their fears that research and freedom of enquiry are under threat from the Kremlin.

Several thousand protesters gathered in Moscow on Saturday 6 June to highlight growing red tape and President Vladimir Putin's fear-driven agenda that has seen a leading private research foundation labelled a ‘foreign agent’. (...) - University World News, by Nick Holdsworth, 11 June 2015 Issue No:371

Stuttgart Media University, in Germany, has scuttled plans to establish a Confucius Institute due to stated concerns over finances, the Stuttgarter-Zeitung reported (in German). The university had signed a contract to found a Confucius Institute with Hanban, the Chinese government entity that oversees and funds the overseas institutes for Chinese language and culture study, in August of 2014. (...) - InsideHigherEd, June 8, 2015

About 3000 Russian scientists rallied in Moscow on Saturday to protest against government reforms of the research system and the imposition of competitive funding, which is not commonly used in the country. The main demand of the researchers was to revise the current reform of the Russian academic system, which has been going on since mid-2013. (..) - Science, by Vladimir Pokrovsky, 8 June 2015

Finland’s universities are facing drastic cuts and the introduction of tuition fees for international students following the new government’s announcement of severe austerity measures that will involve lopping €4.5 billion (US$5 billion) off public spending by 2019. (...) - University World News, by Jan Petter Myklebust, 06 June 2015 Issue No:370

Employers say that international experience matters in hiring decisions. Chief executives fret that today’s graduates lack the skills to succeed in a global economy. Even the US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in recorded remarksto the annual conference in Boston last week of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, called global education a must-have. "In the 21st century," Duncan said, "a quality education is an international education." (...) - University World News, by Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 May 2015 Issue No:369

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